By ROY HESS, Staff Writer
There are some worthy recipients from the Rio Grande Valley of all-state and all-region recognition by the Texas Association of Soccer Coaches for the 2020 season.
Still, there probably could have been more Valley players honored.
In order for a player to be honored by TASCO, his or her coach must be in good standing as far as paying membership dues to the organization. Not all soccer coaches from the Valley and elsewhere around the state are TASCO members. In fact, many aren’t.
Because of TASCO’s criteria, sometimes the state’s best players aren’t eligible to be considered for postseason honors by the organization.
Regardless, the Valley, particularly boys from Brownsville, fared well in the 2020 TASCO awards.
District 32-5A champion Brownsville Veterans Memorial had four players honored, and 32-5A runner-up Brownsville Porter had three.
Receiving second-team all-state recognition from Brownsville Veterans for Region IV Class 5A were senior defender Jose Capistran, junior midfielder Cesar Cepeda and senior forward Mark Boswell. Also for the Chargers, senior midfielder Albert Maradiaga was an honorable mention on the all-region team.
Chargers coach Alberto Vasquez said he is fairly pleased with the individual TASCO awards, and added TASCO’s latest Region IV-5A boys rankings also are a source of pride for his team.
In the last rankings of the season by TASCO in mid-April for Region IV-5A boys, Brownsville Veterans was first, Porter second and Valley View third. Brownsville Lopez, also from 32-5A, was seventh. Sharyland High of District 31-5A was ninth.
“Our team was ranked No. 1 in the region, and that’s the best recognition that we could receive,” Vasquez said.
“I would have loved it if some of our players had made first-team all-state, but three players selected second-team all-state is still pretty good,” Vasquez added.
Porter players receiving TASCO recognition were junior midfielder Erick Esparza (first-team all-region), sophomore forward Jose X. Mateos (first-team all-region) and senior defender Luis Romero (honorable mention all-region).
Porter coach Jose Espitia was glad to see his players recognized, and added that in his opinion, one other Porter player was a glaring omission by TASCO.
He believes Brandon Montes, a junior attacking midfielder and the Cowboys’ top playmaker, should have been honored by TASCO as well. Montes was The Brownsville Herald’s All-Metro MVP for 2020 and a first-team all-district selection. He scored 24 goals and recorded 19 assists during the past season.
“Brandon is one of our most important players, and he did not receive a vote,” the Porter coach said. “I really thought he should have received a lot more love.
“The problem we have with TASCO all-region/all-state selections is that very few RGV coaches pay their TASCO membership fees,” Espitia added. “That means fewer votes for our area athletes.”
The only other Valley boys to receive TASCO 5A honors were three players from Sharyland High. They were senior goalkeeper Alonso Gonzalez (first-team all-region), senior midfielder Jose Hernandez (first-team all-region) and senior defender Luis Lastra (second-team all-region).
McAllen Memorial had two players receive TASCO honors in Class 6A. They were senior goalkeeper Gustavo Moreno (second-team all-region) and senior midfielder Jorge Torres (honorable mention all-region).
There were no TASCO honors going to Valley girls in Class 5A or 4A, but four Edinburg Vela girls received recognition in 6A. They were junior forward Taylor Campbell (second-team all-state), junior defender Cary Kylene Richards (honorable mention all-state), freshman midfielder Natalia Cortez (first-team all-region) and junior midfielder Odessa Leal (second-team all-region).